Recounting my first alcohol nightmare!

Have you heard stories about people who, after quitting drinking, they dream they were drinking again? You yourself may be one of these people. As of today, I am one of these people.

After almost seven months off the sauce, I had largely dismissed this alcohol dreaming thing. But after last night, I know know it’s real. I’ll share a brief recollection. If any of you know about dreams or what they mean, I’d love it if you would share your insights…

So I woke up about 3pm this morning all shakey and freaking out. I didn’t know where I was or what day of the week it was. I actually thought it was Sunday morning but to my disappointment, I eventually worked out it was only Wednesday and that my 5am alarm would inevitably go off.

In my dream, I was in a panic, desperately asking a friend what happened to me the night before. The friend reluctantly told me that I got so wasted (drunk) that I had been taken to hospital. I had vague recollections of the saline drips – the near death stuff you see on emergency room TV. Note that I’ve never been in this state in real life so have no idea where these vivid thoughts came from.

In my dream, I was so upset and shocked at what my friend was telling me. Also, I was horrified that I couldn’t properly remember what happened.

In my dream, I had vague recollections that the cops were involved somehow. But my friend continued to not be fourthcomming with the details.

In my dream, I was fretting that I was about to lose my partner because of this mess. I realised I was about to lose him because he’d not want a bar of me once he found out what happened. Whatever that was.

Then I woke up.

This was possibly the most vivid dream I’ve ever had. To the point where I asked my partner when he woke up this morning if I went to hospital last night. I was genuinely freaking out because I couldn’t tell what was real and what was not. I was so incredibly thankful when he reassured me it wasn’t real. But I was still left feeling pretty disturbed for the rest of today.

***

I wasn’t going to share this with you in case it sounded too far fetched and you didn’t believe me. But the realness of this dream has me so worked up I needed to know if anyone else has experienced dreams to this extent.
I kind of wonder if this dream is a glimpse into my future if I go back to drinking? You know, like a warning signal? Or, perhaps a flashback to what could have happened if I hadn’t stopped drinking? I don’t know.

All I know is that waking up this morning without a criminal conviction and an IV line in my arm was the best feeling in the world!!!

Post navigation

35 thoughts on “Recounting my first alcohol nightmare!”

I’ve had dozens and dozens of drinking dreams in the 6+ years I have been sober. The first time I had one I was terrified and texted / called a few guys asking them if I was going to relapse! But they *can* be very, very realistic, and many times I woke up wondering if I really did drink. Now the dreams are par for course for me. They don’t bother me much and they often come in bunches – maybe a few in a week, for several weeks, then nothing for a few months. They are like Jim said, brain taking out the trash, in some ways. I don’t hold a meaning to them.
I also dream of flying purple elephants – and those aren’t going to happen either!
I guess in the end I laugh and say – hey, an alcoholic dreaming about a drink – no guff!

Happy Sunday Lamar. Oh! I meant to say thanks again for the Noble Eightfold Path recommendation. I’ve been listening to a few podcasts about it lately – it’s really nice. Ties in well to the meditation study I’m doing. I appreciate you taking time to introduce this to me. Happy Sunday my friend 🔆

Hi NWIF!!
Drinking dreams are disconcerting for me.
I haven’t had many, but when I do, I wake up feeling strange.
I am so thankful I am sober today, so I can wake up and play in the flowers!
xoxoxo
Wendy

Hello lovely, oh you have them too?!? This post has opened me up to a whole new concept, thanks to everyone sharing their experiences.
Flowers hehe – coupled with cartwheels and rolly-pollies in that lovely lush grass of yours xoxo
🌷🌴🔆❤️

Dreams like this are so unsettling. I’ve only had one drinking dream so far and it left me rattled the entire day as well. The other day for the first time I woke up feeling legitimately hungover, both physically and emotionally and this left me in such a panic because I had not had anything to drink! It’s crazy how our bodies and minds process everything once we give up booze. Sending positive vibes your way and hoping your feeling much better today!

Thanks for sharing your dream, how bizzare, the way it left you feeling.
The mind is so complex, we must be going thru some sort of brain detox or something as a result of changing years of drinking behaviour.
Thank you kindly and I’m glad you’re feeling better after your ordeal xoxo

geesh oh petes that is scary!
I had one the other day that was so similar.
I had just gotten off work and a coworker asked me to sit at the bar and chat. I sat down and somehow got talked into drinking. I had 3-4 beers and drove home.
I woke up sobbing becasue I was convinced i was wasted. B woke up and asked what was wrong and I told him I was wasted and drove home.
He started laughing and said 1. I picked you up from work and you were not drunk and 2 you don’t have a car.
It took him a good 5 minutes to convince me 😶🙁😟
I was still shook up in the morning.

Sorry to hear about your terrifying dream…. it sounds exactly like mine!! Was that your first one? I think we have been alcoholfree for a similar length of time. Someone else mentioned that they used to have these freaky dreams like yours then eventually they wore off (see comments for more info). So I’m hopeful we will shake it as our subconscious minds slowly get retrained!
Glad you’re feeling better, thank you so much for sharing your story xxx

I’ve had some fairly disturbing drinking dreams too but none for a while thankfully. I can’t remember the content now but I’ve had that horrible wake up and freak out until you realise it was just a dream moment. I’ve also had a few vivid dreams of turning down alcohol, on the positive side. I hope the rest of your day is peaceful and happy 🙂

Hello my friend, oh you have had this as well?!?! Gosh there are soooo many people!! I love how you have also dreamed about declining alcohol, I wonder if your subconscious mind has been retrained?
Onwards and upwards, so thankful to everyone for sharing their alcohol dreams and helpful suggestions like you have xoxo

Thanks lovely. Yes feeling much better thanks,. It’s incredible how many people have written in, sharing their stories. It seems this is a real ‘thing’! Gosh the power of the internet. Yesterday I thought I was alone and losing my mind. Today I feel at peace and safe, surrounded by some incredible people. Thank you so much for popping by. Hugs xoxo

We’re never alone NoWineImFine, no matter how much we may feel like it. ❤ This is an incredible community on here and one that I have turned to many times in the past 9 months. Those drinking dreams can be so unnerving and unsettling, especially waking up and not knowing if it was real or just a dream.

i have very vivid dreams as well. not just about drinking but waking up feeling like the events of my dream happened in real life. and it can take some time to shake that feeling, and get everything straight again as to what’s real and what’s not. so you’re not alone there. and i have had some drinking dreams, not for a few months though, so i’m probably due!!

Oh gosh, this thing is more common than I thought! I had no idea. When you mention waking up in a panic, not knowing what is real and what’s not, that’s exactly how I felt. First time ever!! Really creepy. Thank you for sharing your dreams. Although they are horrible, let’s take some small comfort knowing we are in this thing together xoxo

Thank you my friend – yes let’s take the positives from this and use it to become stronger together.
Slept well last night thankfully. Appreciate your kind words and popping by. Wishing you a good Wednesday evening xoxo

I had one of these dreams last week and I woke up so scared , these dreams seem so real! In a way the dreams might be showing us why we should stay away from alcohol. Even though the dreams scare me I appreciate them in a way if that makes sense lol .

Hi Cristal,
Gosh there seem to be so many of us who’re experiencing this! They are so real, I like your perspective about them being a reminder about why our current trajectory is the right one for us. xoxo

Funny I should read this because a couple of nights ago, I dreamed I was drinking, and then accidentally drove right of a cliff with someone else in the car. (I think it was my daughter.) Dear God!
I’m taking it to show me I am on the right path, bigly. It was a narrow escape, but an escape nonetheless. I have had other dreams where I am being arrested, etc,. always involving drinking. Maybe we have a form of PTSD?

Oh wow, thank you so much for sharing this!!! Im sorry to hear about your (very) scary and undoubtedly disturbing nightmares. Have you been alcoholfree long? A couple of people said they had scary dreams in the first few years but these eventually wore off.
PTSD, that’s certainly worth exploring. I know very little about this but thanks to you I’m going to explore it. Will let you know how I go.
In the meantime, I’m glad you’re safe and that your dreams were just that – dreams.
Thanks again, I sincerely value your feedback ❤️🔆🌴

I have been alcohol free for 483 days. 🔆
I don’t often have the drinking dreams, but that one was amazing. When I googled “driving off a cliff” for dream interpretation, I came up with things like “You are living without rules or discipline.” This is true. I have some MAJOR work commitments and amazing opportunities, but I am spending hours reading Louise Mensch’s political twitter account. It’s fascinating! But I am compulsively checking it over and over to see if our fearless leader is gone yet. (U.S. leader. It’s starting to make sense, isn’t it?) This unhealthy obsession is taking over, much in the same way the drinking did. So maybe these dreams no longer represent alcohol, but they are presented in a way that gets my attention in a big way and that I can relate to.
On another note, I love the layout of your blog, and how it’s a resource for newly non-drinking people. I am getting ready to redesign my own. Not sure where to start, but winging it has become my new mode of operation. ❤️

Thank you for your wonderful message, where to begin!
483 days, congratulations!!! That is outstanding, you are such an inspiration to all of us. Bet you’re feeling amazing!
Ha! Your US leader. That’s a delicate topic and at the risk of causing offence to people, what we see of him in NZ leads me to think he’s a bumbling idiot. 🙊 I guess if you’re learning about your country’s political situation it sounds very educational, much better than our old ways of drinking 🔆
I’m excited to see how your new layout goes, how exciting! A great opportunity for a refresh. Finally, thanks for your kind words about my blog. It’s been such a hard road at times. So if I can help someone in some little way, that’s a plus.
Take care my friend, talk soon xoxox

I always take a long time to respond to my favorite messages, so I apologize! I have to think them over, and stop myself from visiting the person in real life, to get to know them better. Although I’ve never been to New Zealand …
Regardless, now at 491 days sober, I am thinking more along the lines that you are: about making the blog more of a resource, so that people can find answers instead of just featuring a blog. Also, I have been told from a publishing standpoint that I need to develop an online presence. (And it can’t be anonymous, obviously.) Your site has really been an inspiration.
Maybe we can discuss sometime, like when you pick me up from the airport. (hee hee) 💕

The dreams are normal, your brain’s way of taking out the garbage. This will doubtfully be your last. They are a gift.

They are living, breathing proof that you belong in recovery and far away from any mood or mind-altering drugs OR alcohol. Those dreams are your subconscious alcoholic saying, “Hey, I’m still in here.”

It seems you’re handling it excellently. Good luck, one day at a time.

Damn our sneaky little subconscious minds! Still there alright … but we will tackle our demons!
Your insights are so encouraging, thank you kindly. I really like your perspective about cleaning out the garbage. Hugs xoxo

Oooh, that is unsettling! Yikes. Hope you are feeling better now. Nasty dream and the idea of not knowing what is real anymore. Brrrrr, scary. 😦

And: I think you should be worried when your dream drinking ended you in hospital AND you would want to do it again. 😉 Or you woke up thinking ‘ooh, I miss drinking’. From this side of the internet I’m thinking this is exactly a good sobriety confirming experience. Nasty one, but a safe, dry run. Pun intended 🙂

The track of drinking too much has been part of you (us) for a long long time. You are not in your early early days but I am guesssing 7 months of change does not yet revert our years of drinking. So… I am no expert but since everybody seems to have these dreams at one point in time, I am guessing the system did an energetical reset which worked out to be a nasty dream. But you get to process that while actually being sober. COOL!! Again, not nice, but cool.

Ooh, by the way; not sure if people know but when drinking our body builds up resistance. This leaves when we get sober. So if we drink as much as we did, we could indeed en up in hospital or die. That is how Amy Winehouse went. 😦

I hope you are feeling better during the day. Maybe changing your bed sheets before you tuck in again is a good idea, airing the room, burning incense or sage? I found that sometimes dreams and energy linger. Please take care of you. Eventhough you were (are?) a non-believer of drinking dreams, and I think you had a good one with a good sober reaction (repulsed), it sounds pretty impactful.

Good morning,
Thank you so much for your lovely message, I went over it several time to digest fully. Feeling much better thank you, recovering everyone’s ideas and experiences has helped considerably.
I took your advice and had a lovely candle going in the bedroom last night. Removing any residual energy is a beautiful concept, thank you for introducing me to this.
Sincerest thanks and alcoholfree hugs ❤️🔆🌴🙏🏼